Huge potential for Vietnam – Croatia cooperation: Ambassador
VOV.VN - Both Vietnam and Croatia boast great potential for stronger cooperation by bringing into full play each other’s strengths and competitive advantages, says Vietnamese Ambassador to Croatia Nguyen Thi Bich Thao.
Thao, in a recent interview granted to Vietnam News Agency on 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries this year, said Vietnam and Croatia have maintained contacts and meetings both bilaterally and multilaterally. The two countries have signed a number of important agreements, creating the legal corridor for their cooperation and development, especially in diplomacy, economy and trade.
As Vietnam and Croatia have many world-famous landscapes and long coastlines, they have great potential for cooperation in tourism, marine economy, and logistics, as well as people-to-people exchanges, said the diplomat.
According to her, Vietnam is ready to act as a gateway for Croatian commodities to penetrate the Vietnamese and ASEAN markets. The two countries also strengthen cooperation within the frameworks of ASEAN-EU partnership and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), as well as in the fields of peacekeeping, climate change response, and humanitarian assistance.
Marking 30 years of diplomatic ties this year, Thao said the two countries will increase visit exchanges, work out new cooperation mechanisms, and expand parliamentary cooperation. They will increase cooperation in potential fields with complementary strengths such as food processing, logistics, energy transition, high technology, digital economy, and pharmaceuticals manufacturing.
The two countries will consider signing cooperation agreements in other fields such as culture, sports, education, tourism, and labour; establish an intergovernmental committee on economic cooperation; effectively and fully implement the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), and the pending EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).
At the same time, she said they will focus on providing information and building trade and investment promotion programs to create conditions for the two countries’ business communities to understand more about each other’s business and investment environments.
The ambassador also revealed that Vietnam will appoint an honorary consul in Zagreb to promote bilateral relations, especially in the field of economics and trade, and to support Vietnamese citizens in Croatia.
